The Tomato Cookbook: Tomato Recipes From Soup to Grilled

The Tomato Cookbook: Tomato Recipes From Soup to Grilled - The Ultimate Resource for Cooking and Preserving a Bountiful Tomato Harvest (Hillbilly Housewife Cookbooks) was a free Kindle book when I wrote this blog post.

A collection of 28 tried and true family recipes for using up and preserving fresh tomatoes.  A great way to use up the tomatoes that you have growing in your garden.

When you have too many tomatoes that you don't know what to do with them , this book will help.

4 Ways to Involve Your Kids in Food Storage

Starting up a collection of food for storing can be difficult when you are a mother during the summer. When the kids are home from school, your role tends to be more of an entertainer than food storage extraordinaire. Do not fear- there is a way to stay on track with your goals for this project without shipping your kids off to your parents’ for the summer. Here are a few ideas…

1. Age Appropriate Learning. Depending on what age your child is, think of what they are learning at the time, and use it to help you! If they are learning to read, have them read the recipe card for practice, and then run around the house and storage bringing you all the ingredients. If they are younger, have them dump the ingredients into the mixing bowl, or stack cans in the storage area. If you have older kids, have them write labels or get half of the list at the grocery store for you. You can also test them on their fractions or math when stacking things or doubling a recipe. (One hint that might help to motivate: Kids will do anything if you make it a race or game of some kind!)
2. Cooking Lessons. So much of food storage involves cooking. You’ve got to use the food the food every once in a while and cycle through it in order to get your money’s worth, and you’ve got to know how to cook with the emergency foods that you’re storing. So, instead of plopping the kids in front of the tv and having the kitchen to yourself, make it a family activity! Teaching kids how to find their way around the kitchen and make food early on is an excellent idea. It is a fun learning and memorizing activity for kids, and it makes it less work for you once they can make food on their own.
3. Gardening. Many food storage junkies also like to have their own garden that they can live off of in case of an emergency. This is a great idea for getting your hands on fresh produce when your town or state is in crisis. Your kids can help you out in the garden by weeding, planting, digging holes, watering, or fertilizing. Just give them a lesson on what to do and they will love feeling like an important helper. You can also teach them what ripe fruit or vegetables look like and have them help pick. Not only does this help you, but it is a valuable learning experience for kids to be outside with nature in a world where they are surrounded by technology all the time.
4. Pick their Brains. Many times I have been surprised by an idea that my child had that I would have never thought of. If you have limited space and money, food storage is all about creativity. Kids are in the prime state of life for being imaginative, so have them help you solve problems with your food storage. Teaching problem-solving skills young is important for their overall growth and it will also help you get more ideas for how to store your food. Show your son or daughter the pile of food you need to find a place for, and walk around the house together on a hunt for a new food storage spot. Older kids improve your original organization or build proxy shelves out of plywood and cans.

Whatever you do to get them involved, I can guarantee you and your kids will have a bonding experience and make a new memory. You can get more done this summer if you just set your mind to it! Click here for more tips on food storage.

Author Bio- Dirk Puckett has been in the emergency preparedness industry for more than 20 years and is a proud family man.

Yard Sale Find - Cast Iron Skillets

 I went to a yard sale this past Saturday and found both of these cast iron skillets. I paid only $5.00 for both of them. I am really hoping that I can get the rustiness out of them and get them seasoned up.

I am thinking that all I need to do is scour them real good and get the rust off, then re-season them.

I hope they turn out good, but for only $5.00 it was worth the chance since they are cast iron.

ANY TIPS WILL BE APPRECIATED!

The Free List- Free Homeschool Curriculum, Links and Websites for Kids

The Free List- Free Homeschool Curriculum, Links and Websites for Kids

Great list of free ways to homeschool. 

Start Your Home based Winter Business Now! Or Just Stockpile for self!

Now is the perfect time to start a home based business that will be making you money this winter. You pretty much start it for free - using all of that junk mail, catalogs, and newspapers that you get. Make paper bricks that will be used for fireplaces and wood burning stoves. They can burn up to 2 hours at a time. ( This also would be a good time to stockpile some up for yourself.) This is the perfect home based for a teen. The start-up cost is low. You just need to get one of those Paper Log Makers and the other items that you need are free or you should already have on hand. A 5 gallon bucket, gloves,and bleach.

It is pretty simple to make the bricks: shred or tear the paper, fill a 5 gallon bucket with water, add a tablespoon of bleach, stir and then the paper. There are two ways to proceed, either leave the paper to soak for 10 days, or mulch the paper in the bucket for an hour using something like a toilet plunger or stick.

Once the paper is pulped, fill the Paper Log Maker with the pulp and squeeze the arms together to remove the water. You will be left with just the brick. Carry on this method until all the paper is used. Find a warm and dry area to allow the brick to dry and hey presto - you have free solid fuel to sell.

Make these up all summer, storing them up some place where they will be dry.  As soon as it starts to cool off place an ad in the local paper and start selling them. Great home based business that is almost free to start and would be a great one for a teen to do.